I have never really been a talk radio person. If I was going to listen to the radio, I wanted music. But then music got annoying, and I discovered the Nerdist Podcast. I am now obsessed with my podcasts - they are the only thing I will listen to in the car if I have to drive more than five minutes...I currently follow Nerdist, Pop My Culture, The JV Club, The Nerdist Writer's Panel, Freakonomics Radio, Save It For Air, and Mike and Tom Eat Snacks. Some of them I follow for helpful tips and tricks (Nerdist Writer's Panel, Freakonomics Radio), some I follow for pure entertainment (Mike and Tom Eat Snacks, Save It For Air, JV Club) and some have a nice mix of both (Nerdist, Pop My Culture).
What is a podcast? Basically, a podcast is a talk radio show, but without the restrictions of a corporately produced station, and without a third party time restraint; the shows themselves decide approximately how long they want to run. For example, Nerdist tries to stay at about an hour. However, if they have an awesome guest or have gotten onto an especially enthralling topic, they have run to an hour and half or more before (I don't think they have ever hit two hours, though). On the other hand, M.A.T.E.S. tends to run about half an hour to forty-five minutes, because their concept (Pick a Snack, Eat a Snack, Rate a Snack) just does not lend itself to a ton of material each episode.
NERDIST was the first podcast I started listening to. It is hosted by Chris Hardwick, Matt Mira and Jonah Ray, and has no real structure. They currently release three episodes a week: two of the episodes have guests, one is a "Hostful" where the three of them sit around a table and shoot the breeze. Guests have ranged from Chris's former roommate and good friend of twenty years, Wil Wheaton to Neil deGrasse Tyson, from Nathan Fillion to Alison Brie. Regardless of career or fame, if there is someone they want to talk to, they are usually able to get him or her on the podcast. It is very entertaining, but the guests also often have incredible advice for those wanting to break in to their respective industries.
POP MY CULTURE is also a podcast centered around guests. Hosted by Vanessa Ragland and Cole Stratton, their guests are often in the film/tv industry (mostly actors and comedians, but some writers and producers) and has very minimal structure. For the first half of the show, they talk about whatever they feel like discussing, and this is where listeners can find any advice the guests happen to share. It's a bit more rare than on Nerdist, but it happens every now and then. For the second half of the show, Vanessa and Cole have prepared questions (often ridiculous, designed to be fun and silly more than hard hitting) for the guest to answer.
THE JV CLUB is perhaps the most guest-centered podcast on the list. Janet Varney (JV - see what she did there?) interviews female celebrities about their pre-fame high school and formative years and how that shaped the person they are now. Not many career-building tips and advice, but very intriguing to hear just how normal these famous women are.
THE NERDIST WRITER'S PANEL is extremely structured. This is actually the broadcast of a recorded live panel at Nerdist Meltdown Theater (in the back of Meltdown Comics in LA) moderated by Ben Blacker, and features major writers from the television industry. They often crossover to films as well, but they are on the panel because the write for TV. This is an incredibly helpful podcast for those of us hoping to join writers rooms, because the panelists give an accurate perspective on the reality of being a writer - warts and all, no bullshit. They talk about how hard it is to break into the career, the long, tiring hours, but also the payoff and the wonderful aspects. I absolutely recommend it to anyone and everyone who is interested in that career.
FREAKONOMICS RADIO is an actual 5-10 minute segment on NPR radio every other week, hosted by Steven Dubner. So, on alternating weeks they will have a 5-10 minute episode (which is also broadcast on NPR) then they will have half an hour to an hour long episodes which is often not broadcast on NPR. They will discuss social and economic issues facing America, and I find it absolutely fascinating. It's rather hard to describe, but it is a relative to the Freakonomics book - Dubner was a coauthor.
SAVE IT FOR AIR is my most recent podcast, hosted by Katie Levine and Logan Moy. I have not listened to very many episodes yet, but from what I have heard, it's Katie and Logan sitting at a table, talking about topics they chose beforehand, like TV Shows. Or Childhood Toys. They sometimes have guests, but not very many and the guest isn't the focus of the podcast. It seems interesting and I'm going to keep listening for now. We'll see how it turns out.
MIKE AND TOM EAT SNACKS is like junk food for your ears. It has no major substance and you probably won't learn anything (except we're not viewers! It's an audio podcast, thus we are not viewers) but it's fun to listen to hosts Tom Cavanaugh and Michael Ian Black do what they do (which is the podcast. They are about women's rights, but they do the podcast). And though they do repeat inside jokes every single episode (all the parentheses) it's interesting to hear what they have to say about the snacks they put through their PER system (Pick, Eat, Rate).
I guess what I find most appealing about podcasts (other than the lack of censoring - the Nerdist boys can say whatever they want, and iTunes will just put an "Explicit" tag on it) is the variety of topics. Truly anyone can make a podcast about anything, and it doesn't matter. Just pick something you feel passionate about, drum up the hosting fees to put it online, and go to town. There are no restrictions, and that is a marvelous feeling.
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